The first practice of rookie minicamp for the Cowboys ended, and defensive coordinator Rob Ryan ambled off the field. He stopped to chat with reporters for the first time since the draft, and he made a point of saying he wouldn’t make any outrageous proclamations.

Then, in his first few sentences in front of microphones, Ryan made a bold statement. Outrageous? You can judge that. But he obviously didn’t think so.

“I just think we’ll be better than I think we’re gonna be,” Ryan said a few minutes ago on the field. “We’re gonna be damn good.”

You can’t blame the dude for being optimistic. Dallas had drafted CB Morris Claiborne with the No. 6 overall pick after adding a slew of likely starters such as Brandon Carr and Dan Connor in free agency. The guru patched it together last year, even with an insanely banged up group of defensive backs, but it’s clear he didn’t love how it all went down.

With that said, Ryan was asked if he felt more pressure in his second year, given the influx of talent. Umm … not quite.

“Yeah, I’m extremely nervous,” a laughing Ryan said, throwing the question right back at the reporter. “But I know one thing. When you add some excellent players like we’ve done, makes my job a hell of a lot easier. We’re looking forward to it… I’m excited. No question. I’m excited to be a Dallas Cowboy and I’m excited to run some of the stuff we’ve been talking about.”

Why will this year be better than last year? Well, for one, there is no lockout. There’s actually an offseason. And Ryan hopes to teach his complex system a little better.

“We weren’t always on the same page,” Ryan said. “We wanted to eliminate some bad football. I think when we look back at ourselves, reevaluate, I think I started too fast. We put in an accelerated program without English 101, which I always struggled with. We’ve always had the players, but we’re taking the time to re-teach everything, get some fundamentals here.”

No wonder Ryan is amped …

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